New cobot loads up: Trade Shows & Events

Although it’s not on the market yet, a maker of collaborative robots has unveiled a redesigned cobot with twice the load-carrying capacity of the currently available version. Benefits of the new design also include longer reach, faster operation and higher throughput at machine shops and other industrial settings.

Manufactured by Denmark-based Universal Robots A/S, the UR20 cobot can handle payloads of up to 20 kg as opposed to the 10 kg maximum of the UR10 model. Besides handling double the payload, the company says the UR20 offers 30% more speed and torque than the UR10 thanks to major modifications to the cobot joint.

“We’ve changed the whole architecture of the joint design, which allows us to push more power into the joint and increases the torque in the output,” said Joe Campbell, senior strategic marketing manager at Universal Robots USA Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “This is how we get not just the (UR20’s) payload but also get more speed out of it.”

He said the redesign also simplifies joint maintenance and improves reliability by significantly reducing part count.

Another major UR20 selling point is a reach of up to 1,750 mm compared with 1,300 mm for the UR10.

“Given the reach of a robot and the size of the parts, you can only fit so many pieces in the work envelope,” Campbell said. “With the UR20, we can fit more pieces in the work envelope, which means (machines) can run unmanned for a longer period of time.”

The UR20 robot arm can lift more weight and reach farther than the version currently on the market. Image courtesy of Universal Robots USA

A longer reach also means that the UR20 can support a wider range of machine tools, he said, including bigger CNC tools with larger spindles and cutting environments.